


Arrow to the side

by timetravellingdixon



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-23 08:59:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4870936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timetravellingdixon/pseuds/timetravellingdixon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna Lansworth has been wandering the woods for 2 weeks after running from her fathers camp. She has no food and is hiding in a tree when she sees a man crawling up the cliff side with an arrow in his side.</p>
<p>This is a second draft of my earlier fic. I am working through fixing it now. Be patient with me for I am just a child who does not know the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Anna’s hand twitched towards the colt.45 hanging off her belt. The stranger ascending the ravine below her seemed agitated. It became clear as to why when he turned to reveal a crossbow bolt sticking through his side.  
She held her breath as the survivor passed wearily under the tree in which she was hiding. He was muttering quietly to himself. She strained to hear."I know what I saw!"  
The man reached the top of his climb and started to sway on his feet.He squinted against the sun as he looked around. His eyes scanned over her hiding place. For a moment she panicked that he had seen her slim figure amongst the branches, before he turned away. She thanked his blood loss for his oblivious gaze.  
She was contemplating this when her stomach let out a ferocious growl to rival that of any stray dog.

 

The man below her looked up. His crystal blue eyes locking with hers in surprise before his foot slipped and he hurtled down the cliff face again. Anna debated with herself.

Her brain was telling her to run, to leave the man to fend for himself. But her stomach was telling her that she had no food left, she was a useless hunter and she was lost in the woods. The man wasn't in any shape to refuse her and he seemed to be alone. She knew she would starve if she did nothing.

“Rock and a hard place,” She grumbled.

 

The man looked well fed. In the end, her stomach won out and she hopped down the cliff face to were the man lay groaning. Gun at the ready, she knelt down to question him.

 

"Who are you?"  
He simply groaned in response.

"Look asshole, I have half a mind to just leave you here to die."  
Still nothing. Anna decided to change tact. In a softer but stern voice she said,  
"Do you have a camp?"  
This time the man seemed to respond, he let out a grumble that she decided to take as a yes.

 

Daryl was astounded at this girl's audacity, she looked completely calm despite looking like she hadn't eaten in days. Her Light brown hair was damp and plastered to her pale face. Dried blood clung to the strands, tinting the tips a dark and ruddy red.

"Where is it?" She had an strong English accent. Daryl considered. She looked innocent enough but if there were others with her then who knew what they could do.

He knew ,however,that he would never get back to the farm without her help. The group probably wouldn't notice something was gone for hours. By the time they would find him he would already be dead. 

A rustle FROM THE BUSHES disrupted the two survivors. It was swiftly followed by a guttural groan. Daryl saw the girl’s grip tighten on her revolver.

“Which way?”

He grunted and nodded in the general direction of the farm.  
"If you try anything, I will have no hesitations shooting you." She whispered, her breath ghosted over his ear  
"Got it." He confirmed.

 

Hearing this the girl hoisted Daryl’s arm over her back to pull him up.

"I'm Anna."

"Daryl" His voice was rough through his gritted teeth.

Anna started to stagger off towards the farm, half dragging the older man with her.  
A lone walker pulled itself from the bush just as they left the clearing.


	2. Chapter 2

After walking for half an hour with the occasional grumble from Daryl to keep her in the right direction, the pair of survivors finally reached the edge of the woods.   
Anna’s back was killing her but she felt she couldn't complain given that she was the only one in one piece.  
The farm stretched in front of them. Anna stopped to hide in the trees and left Daryl to walk on alone. She had decided awhile back that she wouldn't be stupid enough to just walk straight into the camp like she owned the place. 

Anna watched from her vantage point in the trees as Daryl limped out to face the group of men running towards him. Each carrying axes and machetes.  
She could hear a yelled conversation, and watched as eventually everyone relaxed.

CRACK!  
Daryl fell to the floor. Anna couldn't help but let out a strangled scream. She dropped from the tree and started running. The men turned to look at her and she froze to the spot, just realizing her stupid mistake. One of the men turned back to face an R.V , waved his arms and started yelling  
"NOOO!"  
Another man, With thick arms and dark skin, hoisted one of Daryls arms over his shoulder and urged a guy with a shaven head to help him as they took the man back to the camp.  
The first man, the one who had shouted looked at Anna and seemed to contemplate what to do with her. He looked her up and down before saying  
"You better come with us, but if you try anything, I can assure you, you will lose."  
Anna nodded, knowing that she didn't have much choice. She was too far from the woods to run and she didn't want to risk just being shot.   
His calm and assertive manner assured her that he was the leader.  
She took a tentative step forward and he patted her down and took her gun from her.  
"You can have this back when I know we can trust you. Keep your knife in your belt."  
Then urged her to keep coming before turning his back and following the other men.

She sighed and followed on his heels.

\--

Daryl woke up in a bedroom. His head throbbed and his hair felt sticky with blood. Hershel Greene was hovering over the wounds on his abdomen.  
The old man chastised him for taking his horse without asking. It suddenly occurred to him that there was supposed to be a girl with him, that is, If she hadn't been a hallucination.  
"Where's the girl?" He asked.  
"She's with Rick in the shed, he's asking her some questions."  
Daryl made to get up and Hershel pushed him back down.  
"Not yet, If you rip my handy work I refuse to stitch you back up again."The old man chuckled.

Daryl gritted his teeth in frustration but nodded. Hershel left him alone with his thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

After dropping Daryl off with an old man called Hershel, whom she assumed was some sort of doctor, she was led into a rickety shed and told to sit down.  
"What's your name?"  
She considered staying silent but decided it would do her no favours. That other man already knew her name.  
"Anna Lansworth."  
"How many have you killed?"   
"W-what?" her heart somersaulted at the abrupt Question.  
"Walkers. How many have you killed?" He looked her dead in the eye as if searching for malicious intent.  
"Um, I- I don't know. I lost count."  
" How many people?"  
"2"  
"Why?"  
The question almost made her relax. He was worried about whether she was a good person or not. A killer doesn't ask why. He doesn't care. He just wants to know if you could slit a few throats for him.  
No. This man seemed good.  
Despite this, she knew she needed to be careful what she said. In the end she decided on a half truth.  
"I was running away from my old camp, the leader was going kind of crazy. He sent two of his men after me, and I shot them."  
These were some of the things that haunted her in the late hours at night. It wasn't that she felt particularly guilty. But she knew that the moment she pulled that trigger, She lost part of her humanity. It cut her deep to think how far she had fallen.  
"Okay."   
She gave him a questioning glance.  
“That’s it?”  
"You seem okay. I would ask you to join us but it's not my choice to make."  
"Whose is it?"  
"You saw that man, Hershel?" She nodded.  
"This is his farm. If you want to stay, You would have to convince him."  
"Thank you."  
The man nodded slowly.  
"You must be hungry, come out and join us for dinner."  
She licked her lips at the thought of real food and followed him out of the shed.  
"I'm Rick Grimes, by the way."  
"Nice to meet you Rick."


End file.
